Great staff, but not really a boutique hotel
I stay at the Narakkan for 7 nights - it was my 4th visit to Koh Tao since 2006.
I have very mixed sentiments regarding this hotel : on the one hand, the staff were amazing, genuinely kind and went out of their way to help you. On the other hand, I was very disappointed by the room I got with respect to what I thought I was going to get... Narakkan presents itself as a Boutique Hotel which it clearly is not in the European sense of the term. It has indeed developed a wing within the building with several rooms decorated in modern fashion (waxed cement floors etc) but these are the Junior Suites, which is not so clear when you book. The rest of the hotel (reception area, restaurant) are not at all in the continuity of this theme.
The manager kindly upgraded us to a beachfront room when we expressed our disappointment (to be fair, it it not false advertising conc the rooms, simply you have to read btw the lines). So the room we got was large and basic, but I would say probably not worth the price we paid (or rather didnt pay as this one was even more expensive).
The rooms are not necessarily cleaned everyday, so you have to ask them to do so and when they are, they are spotless.
We understood the set breakfast to be only bacon and eggs, then discovered on our last day that we could have had an equivalent for the same price (eg Muesli with yoghurt).
The restaurant is nice and once again very friendly staff. They have a great vegetarian meu.
So despite initial disappointment I would indeed consider returning to the hotel, in the new wing as the people were so kind.
The hotel is located on the Southern part of Sairee beach, which is great if you want to be in the thick of of it regarding shops, bars, etc If you want a quiet remote location, head for Thanote Bay or Ao Leuk - Sairee is definately not for you. In 7 years it has become Oxford Street with sand.